There’s a lot of conversation in the Montessori community about what’s “not Montessori.”
Montessori often gets what I consider to be a bad rap as “too rigid”–and to be sure, there are strong opinions among teachers about how best to follow and implement Montessori’s ideas. I personally am fairly confident about how this lives in my own classroom.
And that’s why I can tell you that these reptiles on a ramp are both “not Montessori” and also, most assuredly, as Montessori as Montessori can be.
These reptiles are part of a matching lesson: in a basket with cards for matching, and the intended aims are visual discrimination (matching like with like) and language development. A close-to-universal truth is that kids love animals, so there is a rotating cast of them in this same basket, but the reptiles always draw more than their fair share of attention.
This day, a toddler came to class for the first time with his dad a week after his baby sister had been born. He may or may not have matched the reptiles with the cards, not sure, I was around and about, but about halfway through class, I spotted the scene above: reptiles riding down the ramp.
There might be a teacher who would say that this use of this activity didn’t meet either of the intended purposes, that it was outside of our classroom’s sense of order, or some other criticism.
But here’s what I saw:
- The most beautiful concentration: this activity led to close to 10 minutes of focused attention.
- Scientific exploration as concepts of gravity & friction came to life and they experimented in real time.
- Respect for these materials–the child’s purpose led to an almost-reverent atmosphere as he reset them at the top of the ramp.
- Community building for the rest of the class as many gathered around to watch the races.
- Sneaky, but there: language development in the form of conversation about which reptile was winning each race.
- Most important: A dad and his son spending delightful and purposeful time together, at a moment when this guy likely really needed to feel the connection.
The sense of order we cultivate in Montessori classrooms is important, but it’s also a long game. The aims for the lessons out on the shelves are important, but so is creative thought and so is flexibility. If you’re looking for a Montessori school, I invite you to look for all of this.
And here’s the biggest news: all the Montessori materials “are” Montessori, but so is this: child-led moments of learning and joy.